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Icelandic dead whale beer

In a series of rare and special encounters, a 60 to 65 foot fin whale repeatedly “mugged” whale watching passengers aboard Captain Dave’s Dolphin & Whale Watching Safari’s high-tech catamaran off of Dana Point, California. Muggings occur when a whale takes a special interest in our boat and behaves in a friendly and curious manner. This fin whale, who we named Huck, swam around and under our stationary boat (which was in neutral) within very close proximity to amazed whale watching passengers. Getting mugged by a whale larger than the boat is not an everyday encounter and is something passengers and crew will not soon forget!

Capt. Dave says, “This is one of the friendliest fin whales we have ever had. When a 60-foot whale is circling right next to your boat, you want them to be friendly! When these whales are mugging us like this, we have to sit in idle and wait until they leave us. We got to be with this whale a long time before it left.”

Fin whales are the second largest baleen whale in the world, after the blue whale. Fin whales are seen throughout the year off of Southern California. They are also among the fastest whales leading to the nickname “greyhounds of the sea”. Fin whales are easily recognized by their large dorsal fin and unique asymmetrical coloring on their lower jaw. On the left side the lower jaw is black or gray and white or light gray on the right.

Unfortunately, fin whales are not only stars in whale watching. They are also targets of money-mad power-mad Icelandic tycoon Kristján Loftsson, boss of Hvalur, the only whaling corporation in Iceland.

January 2014: The news that the Icelandic brewery is going to produce a beer that includes dead whales as one of its ingredients has dismayed conservationists across the globe. ‘Whale beer’ is the brainchild of the Icelandic Steðjar brewery and fin whaling company, Hvalur, and its launch is timed to coincide with the Icelandic mid-winter festival of Þorrablót (Thorrablot) held in honour of the Norse god, Thor.